Citation:
Keith Goffin, Colin New, Customer support and new product development : An exploratory study, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 2001, Volume: 21 Issue: 3 Page: 275 - 301
Abstract:
Customer support is an essential element in the successful marketing of many
products – from domestic appliances to high-tech computer networks. Many aspects
of support are strongly influenced by a product’s design and so customer support
requirements should be evaluated during new product development. However,
researchers have largely ignored the relationship between new product
development and customer support. The current study addressed this gap by using
case studies and a workshop, both conducted with leading companies, to identify
how customer support is typically evaluated at the design stage and to determine
the importance of this aspect of new product development. The results have
implications for managers responsible for product innovation – they show the
need to allocate adequate resources to integrating customer support requirements
into new product develo